The first step for the 2010 census begins next week - when workers start collecting address information.

The Census Bureau will update more than 145 million addresses across the nation in preparation of the 2010 Census.

In Northeast Georgia, about 1,000 in-field and office census workers based from an office in Gainesville are preparing to collect address information.

"Our goal is to identify every place where people live or could live," said Carol Zaremba, local census office manager for a region that includes 31 Northeast Georgia counties.

That means getting the address information for every house, apartment, mobile home and shelter in the country. The process starts Monday, April 6, and is expected to continue through mid-June or late-July, she added.

Collecting those addresses is the first step before sending a census questionnaire in March 2010.

"We want to make sure that our address list is as accurate as possible, so that when we actually take the census in 2010, that we are able to count every single resident of every single county," Zaremba said.

On the line is $300 billion in federal funds - which will be given to local communities based on census figures.
The census data also determines how Congressional district lines are drawn.

Starting next week, census workers will head into local communities to collect address information.

Census workers will wear badges, and will use hand-held computers with GPS technology to collect accurate address information. The data collected from those computers will be sent to the Gainesville office, Zaremba said.

If Census workers have questions - such as properties with multiple living quarters - they may knock on doors for additional information, she added.

Workers for the 2010 census will never ask for bank or social security information, the Census Bureau said in a statement. All census information collected, including addresses, are confidential and protected by law. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with the FBI, the IRS, CIA, Welfare, Immigration, or any other government agency. No court of law or law enforcement agency can find out respondents' answers. All Census Bureau employees - including temporary employees - take an oath for life to keep census information confidential. Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.

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